Water bills to rise - but how do we clean up the industry?

Sky News
Updated ·1-min read

Water bills are to rise by an average of 21% over the next five years, the industry regulator Ofwat has ruled.

But with the impact of the cost of living, water companies spilling record amounts of sewage into our waters, and controversial bonuses for senior leaders, do we need a complete overhaul of the industry?

On this episode, Niall Paterson hears from our business correspondent Paul Kelso in Henley, on the impact for consumers, providers and our waterways.

Niall also speaks to Stuart Colville, deputy CEO of Water UK, which represents the water companies, asking why they disagree with Ofwat's plans.

Plus, Feargal Sharkey, campaigner and former lead vocalist of The Undertones, joins Niall to share his reaction and the story behind his efforts to protect our rivers and seas.

👉 Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts 👈

For further background from Sky News, you can read Paul Kelso's further analysis of Ofwat's business plans for Thames Water's survival here.

Producers: Soila Apparicio, Rosie Gillott
Editor: Paul Stanworth
Promotions producer: David Chipakupaku

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest stories

  • Olympics bet against climate change with Seine swimming. For days, it looked like they would lose

    With plans for athletes to swim the Seine River through the heart of Paris, Olympic organizers essentially bet against climate change's extreme weather. For several days it appeared they would lose — by ditching the swimming portion of triathlon races. “They just gambled, flipped the coin and hope for a dry season and it turned out to be the rainiest in the last 30 years,” said Metin Duran, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Villanova University who has researched stormwater management.

  • Work finally starting on Fredericton's newest Cross Town Trail section

    A long-awaited addition to a Fredericton bike trail is finally underway after years of anticipation in the city renowned for its trail network.Riders on the Cross Town Trail currently have to use sidewalks through residential neighbourhoods for a few sections. But with a new protected bike lane along parts of Smythe and Argyle streets, riders will soon have a safer option to ride.Sean Lee, the city's assistant director for engineering and operations, said Smythe Street is being narrowed by about

  • Trees don’t like to breathe wildfire smoke, either – and they’ll hold their breath to avoid it

    An unplanned experiment when wildfire smoke rolled through Colorado shows how trees keep some of the smoke out.

  • How India’s vulture apocalypse led to the deaths of half a million people

    With their bald heads and oily black feathers, vultures have long been reviled as symbols of death and gluttony.

  • China reports 7 more deaths from torrential rains brought by tropical storm, raising toll to 22

    Torrential rains have left at least seven people dead and three others missing in southeastern China, state media said Tuesday, raising the death toll from a tropical storm to 22. All the deaths have been in Hunan province. Heavy rains have been falling on eastern Hunan for days as Tropical Storm Gaemi moved inland after making landfall at typhoon strength in neighboring Fujian province on the Chinese coast.

  • Technicolour skies glow across Australia and NZ as solar flares trigger aurora australis

    Observations of spectacular southern lights phenomenon recorded from Tasmania and Melbourne to Western Australia

  • Countries under orange alert as heatwave continues across Europe

    Spain, Romania and Greece are a few of the countries battling this summer's extreme temperatures.

  • Solar storms could cause more auroras on Tuesday night

    Massive explosions on the Sun have triggered warnings of geomagnetic storms that could create dazzling auroras in the northern United States, Europe and southern Australia on Tuesday night.But "the brunt of the activity is most likely" to come on Tuesday, when there is a "strong" geomagnetic storm warning of G3, the NOAA said.

  • Southern lights: Australians dazzled by spectacular aurora australis after powerful solar storm

    There may be even more spectacular aurora australis tonight

  • At least 63 dead and hundreds feared trapped in landslides in southern India

    Authorities say they have mobilised helicopters to help with rescue efforts and the Indian army has been brought in to build a temporary bridge after landslides destroyed a main crossing that linked the affected area.View on euronews

  • Frantic Rescue Efforts as Landslides Kill Dozens in India's Kerala State

    Over 50 people have been killed and hundreds are feared trapped after massive landslides and flash flooding struck in Kerala’s Wayanad district on Tuesday, July 30, amid heavy rain, The Hindu reported.India’s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) released video from the location of the landslides in Wayanad. A large amount of water can be seen rushing down a muddy area with large chunks of debris brushed to the side of the water flow. Some buildings and vegetation can be seen damaged but still standing.Over 100 people had been rescued my emergency teams, according to The Times of India.The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) said 8 inches of rain fell in the space of 24 hours on July 29, combined with wind gusts over 30 mph on Tuesday.Similar amounts of heavy rainfall were set to impact Wayanad district on Wednesday, according to the KSDMA.India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “distressed” by the news of the landslides. “My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones and prayers with those injured,” he wrote on X. Credit: NDRF via Storyful

  • Crowds flock to the beach as heatwave hits Wales

    Parts of Wales could break the record for the hottest day of 2024 so far.

  • 4.9-Magnitude Earthquake Rattles Southern California

    Three earthquakes of varying magnitude hit Barstow, Calif., roughly halfway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas

  • India landslide toll hits 150 as rain hampers rescue work

    Relentless downpours and howling winds hampered Wednesday's search for survivors of landslides that struck Indian tea plantations and killed at least 150 people, most believed to be labourers and their families.Wayanad is famed for the tea estates that crisscross its hilly countryside, which rely on a large pool of labourers for planting and harvest.

  • Governor calls on flood-weary Vermonters to 'stick together' with more thunderstorms on the horizon

    Vermont’s governor said Wednesday that the latest storms to hit the state have undone much of the cleanup and recovery work done since its last major bout of flooding only weeks ago, and he called on residents to “stick together” amid fears that more bad weather was on its way. Thunderstorms on Tuesday brought another round of heavy flooding that washed away roads, crushed vehicles, pushed homes off their foundations and required at least two dozen boat rescues in northeastern Vermont. More downpours were expected Wednesday, with flash flooding possible in some already inundated areas, Jennifer Morrison, the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Public Safety, said at a news conference in Berlin, near the state capital, Montpelier.

  • Drop bears: The true history of a fake Australian animal

    Ask almost any Australian about a drop bear, and they’ll likely recount a close encounter with this carnivorous, fanged cousin of the Australian koala.

  • Rain and floods add to misery of Sudanese displaced by war

    CAIRO (Reuters) -Thousands of people are stranded on the streets of the eastern Sudanese city of Kassala as a deluge of rain compounds the suffering of more than a million Sudanese who sought refuge in the region from a 15-month-old war. The rainy season that began earlier this month has already damaged shelters, made roads unusable, and will put millions at risk of water-borne diseases across large areas of the country. It comes as the number of displaced people within Sudan, currently more than 10 million, continues to tick up as the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) expands its territory in the war with the national army.

  • Sicilians deal so well with drought that tourists don’t notice. A record dry year could alter that

    Lakes are dry and fields are scorched by heat in Sicily, but water is still gushing copiously for tourists. After an almost totally rain-free year on the Italian island, fountains inside Agrigento's famous archaeological park are still flowing, and pools in rows of hotels are full. Like many Mediterranean islands, people in Sicily are used to long spells without rain, but human-caused climate change has made weather more erratic, and droughts can be longer and more frequent.

  • Flash flooding triggered by heavy monsoons in northwest Pakistan kills at least 14 people

    Heavy monsoons in northwest Pakistan triggered flash flooding, killing at least 14 people, 11 from the same family, officials said Tuesday. The rains in Kohat, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, flooded the basement of a house where the family slept, Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for emergency services said, adding they retrieved the bodies of a man, three women, six children, and an 11-month-old baby girl. Pakistan has been hit by heavy rains since early July, killing more than 60 people and damaging over 250 homes, mostly in the eastern Punjab and southwestern Baluchistan province.

  • Northern Lights to be visible in US and Europe today after huge ‘cannibal’ solar storm erupts from the Sun

    Auroras could be triggered by ‘cannibal’ ejection from the Sun